


what she's always known

by clayisforgirls



Series: brownieverse [4]
Category: Tennis RPF
Genre: Established Relationship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-16
Updated: 2015-07-16
Packaged: 2018-04-09 16:52:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4356935
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/clayisforgirls/pseuds/clayisforgirls
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Really, if she'd thought about it, allowed herself to think that way, she'd have seen it long before tonight and maybe in some way she did, never pressing them too far even when she'd known they'd been lying to her.</p><p> </p><p>Originally posted in March 2006.</p>
            </blockquote>





	what she's always known

It's dark when they get back, and she flicks the light on to inspect the hallway, hoping that this time they won't have damaged anything.

Nothing seems broken, which is already a step up from last time they'd left Andy and Mardy alone; somehow Andy had broken the vase in the hallway, and though he'd claimed Mardy had be playing softball in the house with him from the look on Mardy's face she'd known it wasn't true. By now she knew that accidents like that were to be expected while having two teenage boys living with her - a broken plate from while they were washing up, a couch with a slight stain on one arm - and she doesn't really take much notice of it anymore. Not with those two around. She'd just replaced the vase, as she'd replaced the plate and tried to clean the couch, and two days later it had been like nothing had happened.

After a quick check in the living room - the boys aren't there, which means they must be asleep already - they climb the stairs. Soft laughter fills the air as she misses the top step, Jerry catching her before she falls and she smiles in thanks. The door to Andy's room is half open, soft glow of the television dimly illuminating the hallway, sound so quite she's not surprised she didn't notice it before.

Carefully the door to Andy's room is pushed open, expecting Andy to be asleep - or at least half asleep - on his bed, having forgotten to turn the televisions off and she doesn't want to wake him if that's the case. But he's not alone, not even close.

Her son is sleeping, but Mardy's there too and if she hadn't noticed the intimacy of them together she could have just passed it off as them both falling asleep in front of the television. It's the details that make the picture though, how Andy's curled around Mardy, face buried in his shoulder, how Mardy's hand is resting on Andy's waist, fingers tucked into the waistband of jeans, all more than familiar, more than friends. The smile of contentment on Mardy's face tells her everything she needs to know as they shift closer, and if she hadn't just seen it she wasn't sure it would be possible.

The last few months make a little more sense now, the pair always sneaking off together, mostly up to Andy's room, just wanting to be alone and she hadn't questioned it, no one had even thought to because they're best friends. The glances between them where she'd asked where they'd been for hours, the guilty blush as she'd asked Mardy about Andy, how there was that slight flush of skin she'd chalked up to the Florida heat when they'd been left alone for the evening. Really, if she'd thought about it, allowed herself to think that way, she'd have seen it long before tonight and maybe in some way she did, never pressing them too far even when she'd known they'd been lying to her.

She pulls Jerry back, her look warning him not now, not when they're alcohol-tipsy and Andy's asleep, and she can feel the tension drain from his body, shoulders slumping. He shuts the door quietly behind them, leaving the couple to sleep, not bothering to turn the television off, and they walk to their own room in silence.

"Tomorrow, we'll talk to them," she says, softly, because their own room isn't that far from Andy's and she doesn't want to wake them. "Let them sleep tonight."

He nods, almost resigned in his posture, and for once she can't read what he's thinking, but it's not the time to deal with it, not at gone midnight on a school night.

Come tomorrow, Andy's going to get that talk, and knowing the pair of them, probably with Mardy at his side.


End file.
